Turning the Page - Gates Advocacy Conference

Recently I was fortunate to attend the Turning the Page Conference sponsored by the Gates Foundation and PLA. The conference provided training, information, and tools to help build participant's skills and confidence in advocating for their libraries. You can find more details at www.SustainingLibraries.org. There were many great ideas shared, but one I thought might be useful was what I call the "postcard idea." Libraries talked about how after a library program they handed to participants a postcard, with the phrase, "what I learned at my library today" , these were collected and used to promote other programs. What a wonderful simple tool, but one I could see you might use in various ways. (in your newsletters, on your web, etc.)

Library Provides Site for Journalists

In ALA's Pr talk Marsha Iverson from King County Library in Washington shared information about a page on their website focusing on providing library resources and services for journalists. Thought this was a great idea and that perhaps you might want to incorporate some of this in your own web sites. Web site is: http://kcls.mediaroom.com. Marsha also said she'd be willing to answer questions, her email is on the page.

Smartest Card at Sheppard Memorial Library

Kids at the library! That was the theme for Sheppard Memorial Library's Smartest Card campaign. Children who signed up for a new card during September had their picture taken. The pictures were posted on a library display, along with comments from the kids about how they used their library card.

H. Leslie Perry Memorial Library Kicks Off Smartest Card Campaign

The H. Leslie Perry Memorial hosted a wonderful event for their Smartest Card Campaign kick off - Discover Night. You could feel the excitement as you walked into the grand hallway outside the H. Leslie Perry Memorial Library entrance. Posters that featured members of Perry Library’s community of readers were the main attraction. (sample to the left) The colorful display was eye catching and the individual’s quotes demonstrated the importance of the library to the community of readers. Cornell Manning, trustee, sees the library as “the temple of learning.” Teacher David Cooper, shared his thoughts, “a library is a place learn about your history, establish your present status, and prepare for your future aspirations.”
Library Director, Jeanne Fox, and her staff organized the Discover Night @ Perry Library to kick off the smartest card campaign and encourage the public to discover the value of a library card. In addition to viewing the posters participants had the opportunity to learn about library resources, enjoy face painting, view special book displays, fill out the library community survey, register for prizes, enjoy refreshments and entertainment as well as meet Trustees and staff.
Jim and Yancey Hines donated their photography services and the posters will remain on display in the library. Many local businesses provided prizes for those who attended and for drawings at the end of the month for those who got cards during the month of September. Every child who registered for a new card received a book to keep.

Smartest Card Campaign

A fun video promoting North Carolina's Smartest Card Campaign.

Smartest Card. Get it. Use it.

September is right around the corner and I hope all of our public libraries are gearing up for the Smartest Card campaign. We are very fortunate to have Branford Marsalis as our state spokesperson this year. Branford will be doing a press conference on Sept. 2 in Durham.
There are some great program ideas in this toolkit. Several libraries are hosting kick-off events that include guest speakers, community partners and entertainment. The Randolph County Library is tying their campaign to their Community Reads. Throughout the month I'll be posting great ideas - so remember pass them along.

Marketing Using Social Media

An interesting post was shared by a colleague and I wanted to pass it on. Chris Brogan wrote a piece titled, "50Ways Marketers Can Use Social Media to Improve Marketing." Some interesting points and some definitely we could incorporate in our libraries. I liked #9 - coupling our newsletter content with web content on a blog. I was also intrigued bysocial media press release he refers to in #12. You can check out the whole list at: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/50-ways-marketers-can-use-social-media-to-improve-their-marketing/.
Enjoy.